3 Injured In South Side Shooting

July 08, 1996|By Gary Mays, Tribune Staff Writer.

Gunfire turned a neighborhood basketball court into a crime scene on the South Side Sunday afternoon, and when it was over, three people were injured, including a 14-year-old girl in critical condition.

Police charged a Chicago man, Keith Thurman, 17, with three counts of aggravated battery in connection with the shooting, according to Wentworth Area Detective Dennis Dwyer.

The unidentified girl remained in Cook County Hospital Sunday night with a gunshot wound in the face, said Administrator Marlo Hodges.

A crowd was watching the pickup basketball game in the 4300 block of South Federal Street just before 4 p.m., when three men drove up in a sedan. Thurman allegedly jumped out and started shooting a handgun at the crowd, firing more than a dozen rounds, according to Wentworth Area detectives.

After the volley of shots, the car drove away, leaving Thurman behind, said one witness, George Tadros, 19, who saw the incident from the back lot of his father's business, Super Jet Food & Liquor, 4326 S. State Pkwy.

An off-duty Chicago police officer working as a security guard for Super Jet caught the suspect after a foot chase.

One of the victims, an 8-year-old girl, ran into Super Jet for help, said Tadros, who helped bandage her arm. She was in good condition at Mercy Hospital on Sunday night. A third victim, Gloria Taylor, 30, was treated at Provident Hospital and released, a nursing supervisor said.

The off-duty officer, Sam Smith, caught up with Thurman a few blocks away, Tadros said. When he returned to the store parking lot, an angry crowd pulled the handcuffed man from the officer's car and began beating him, according to Tadros. The crowd also reportedly damaged Smith's car.

Smith was slightly injured in the melee, which was broken up by other officers, police said.